The systemd unit (and launchd plist) pinned WorkingDirectory to PROJECT_ROOT
(the checkout the unit was generated from). When that checkout is transient —
a git worktree, or a clone hermes update later relocates/removes — the path
rots. systemd then fails the start at the CHDIR step (status=200/CHDIR) BEFORE
Python loads, so the on-boot refresh_systemd_unit_if_needed() self-heal never
runs and Restart=always crash-loops forever on a dead directory. Observed in
the wild: a gateway that crash-looped 153 times overnight, bot offline until a
manual 'hermes gateway restart' regenerated the unit.
Anchor cwd at HERMES_HOME instead — it never moves, always exists, and the
gateway never needed cwd to be the checkout (ExecStart uses an absolute python
+ -m hermes_cli.main). Existing broken units now differ from the generated unit
and self-heal on the next start/restart/update.
teknium1
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